Condemning Hezbollah and Its State Sponsors

CONDEMNING HEZBOLLAH AND ITS STATE SPONSORS -- (Senate - July 18, 2006)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise in support of the resolution which I cosponsored and which the Senate passed today condemning the actions of Hezbollah and expressing our support for Israel.

On July 12, Hezbollah forces launched an attack through Syria, crossing into Israel, killing eight Israelis and seizing two Israeli soldiers as hostages. This assault followed months of rocket attacks by Hezbollah on northern Israel. Those acts of terrorism created the situation that the world confronts today. Israel could not tolerate such assaults on its own soil. No nation could.

Our country will stand with the Government and people of Israel as they defend themselves. The U.S.-Israel relationship is one of the most important and steadfast diplomatic bonds in the world. It is imperative that Congress express this support clearly and unequivocally. The resolution passed today makes this important statement, to our friends in Israel and to the world.

When Hezbollah escalated its attacks against Israel earlier this month, they dragged Lebanon into a conflict that neither the Lebanese Government nor most of the Lebanese people sought. Israel was compelled to respond to the violence on their soil. That was a situation that simply could not continue. Nor can Israel afford to return to the state of affairs before the war. There must be a real change in Lebanon: the days in which Hezbollah could simply lob rockets across the Israeli border with impunity must end.

I believe the United States must play a principal role in helping to forge a solution to this conflict and its underlying causes: the persistent attacks on Israel and the capture of Israeli soldiers.

The conflict in Lebanon has broader international origins and threatens the stability of the region as a whole. Iran and Syria are involved. They have long bankrolled Hezbollah and may have been involved in the plans to seize the Israeli soldiers. One of their goals may have been to distract the world from Iran's efforts at nuclear enrichment. If so, we cannot let them succeed. We must not let the world ignore Iran's efforts to move closer to the development of nuclear weapons.

We are handicapped in the Middle East by U.S. failures to remain consistently engaged in the quest for peace over the last 6 years. U.S. engagement lends stability to the region; disengagement has the opposite effect. The war in Iraq also constrains our options in the Middle East.

We need to take back control on other fronts--and the only way we can do that is to send a signal to the Iraqis that they need to take charge and take responsibility for their own affairs. We need to be able to dedicate our resources to other emerging threats and challenges, and we need to once again act as a pivotal peacemaker in the Middle East. I wish the resolution that we passed had discussed the need for sustained engagement at greater length and had placed increased emphasis on the need for regional diplomacy.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and others in the Arab world have condemned Hezbollah's attacks on Israel. The Saudi foreign minister said, ``These acts will put the whole region back to years ago, and we cannot simply accept them.'' These unprecedented criticisms of Hezbollah by Arab leaders offer at least the prospect that maybe the situation offers a chance to move forward, rather than backward.

Secretary Rice has said that when the moment is right she will go to the Middle East. I understand that she wants to lend her strength to the cause when and where it will do the most good, but I hope that moment will be soon. This conflict continues to increase in intensity and it could grow in scale as well. It is claiming far too many casualties on both sides. Israeli citizens have been killed by Hezbollah rockets that are now reaching deep into Israel. Casualties are especially high, as well, among Lebanese civilians. Over 200 Lebanese civilians have been killed, caught in the crossfire of this conflict. Humanitarian concerns are growing as more Lebanese are displaced and as food and water in many shelters may be running low.

There are also some 25,000 Americans in Lebanon. They have been trapped there. The Beirut airport has been bombed and so have many roadways. Some Americans have escaped by taking backroads to Syria. That is a telling measure of how desperate the situation is for them. According to media sources, at least 8000 Americans want to leave. Their loved ones in this country are frantic with worry. I have constituents who are still trapped there. I am sure virtually every other senator does as well. People are frustrated by the pace of the evacuation, and I can understand that. Several hundred Americans have been evacuated, including children who were in Lebanon alone or individuals in need of medical care. But thousands of Americans remain trapped there.

U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey D. Feltman said that by the end of the week, the evacuation will proceed at a pace of 1,000 Americans a day. Since a Swedish ship departed today with over 1,000 Scandinavians and other Europeans and with some 200 Americans on board, it is difficult to understand why we cannot marshal the resources to evacuate our citizens more quickly.

I have also received many calls from constituents who were appalled to learn that one of the first things that Americans trapped in Lebanon hear from the State Department is that they will be charged for the cost of their evacuation to Cyprus. The United States must make clear to all the parties involved that we will move quickly to evacuate our citizens. Those Americans should not bear the costs of this regional crisis.

Secretary Rice has emphasized the need to safeguard civilian lives and to ``create sustainable conditions for political progress.''

The Israeli soldiers who are being held hostage by Hezbollah, and the soldier captured by Hamas, must be released immediately and unconditionally. The rocket attacks on Israel, which began long before this new phase of the conflict, must end. All the parties involved must commit to abide by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559, which was adopted in 2004. This resolution requires that all militias, including Hezbollah, be disarmed and disbanded.

All of these principles are embodied in the legislation passed by the Senate today, along with an absolutely clear statement that we stand with Israel. To make these principles a reality and to protect the lives of the innocent civilians caught in the crossfire in both Israel and Lebanon will clearly require sustained U.S. engagement in a regional solution.

http://thomas.loc.gov/